What Makes A Good Leader?

The next big era of leadership theories was the Rational Management era. When the previous era failed to determine exact traits that could consistently be identified in great leaders, a shift occurred to begin looking at how these leaders behaved, and what made them into great leaders, rather than who they were in a specific sense. This was a major shift from thinking that people were born leaders, to now considering that perhaps leaders could be made, or trained to become leaders. The first of these theories, beginning in the early 1950’s, were the behavior theories. The focus of these theories was to study what these leaders do, and

When a team establishes trust and friendships, they can truly work together as a whole. Often times the teams I was a part of lacked in this area of bonding. Some of the girls on my soccer team would bicker behind others back and would also try to compete for

If you have never been on the same team with someone working towards a common goal, then you will probably not know about the disagreements that happen between teammates.

Empirically based, the writers begin the book by offering five practices of exemplary leadership: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart (p. 14). In their

The first of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership is Model the Way. In this practice, leaders ascertain their inner voice, values and beliefs in order to affirm shared values with their constituents (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Leaders must clarify their own values if they aspire to support shared values amongst their team. They accomplish this task by identifying the values and beliefs that are important to them and the supporting reasons. Subsequently, the leader would communicate those values with their constituents and in return ask for their values and beliefs with a goal to unify the team. Lastly, a leader will “walk the talk” and follow the values that they communicate with their subordinates.

I think that one way to solve conflict and build trust on a team is to express the conflict directly and communicate with others in order to solve it. Besides, I think that team needs to create open communication so that every team member will be able to share their ideas and thoughts, and team members have to respect every aspect of other team members because respect can create the trust that will allow members to be vulnerable.

There has got to be a lot of trust between everyone to build relationships. If there is trust within the team then that will

I believe that building the trust of the team begins with communication. Communication and trust are mutual actions that assist teammates in sharing thoughts and opinions. My intent is for lines of communication to be established by having group meetings

For a team to work together effectively it is an important process that a trusting, open relationship is developed within the team (Ulrich & Crider 2017). This was accomplished within my group prior

Overall, my team has a good team relationship; however, I must admit we are not a perfect team. Not all of us share the same characteristics – traits, attitudes, and habits.

Members of the team or group should support each other by listening, offering ideas and encouragement. By doing these things they will earn the trust of others.

There are four different social styles that contribute to the interactive dynamics of a team (Griffith & Dunham, 2015). “Group members express themselves in a multitude of ways ranging from productive to destructive” (Griffith & Dunham, 2015, p. 47). The four classification of styles include: analytic, driver, expressive, or amiable (Griffith & Dunham, 2015). Being able to recognize the different social styles, including faults in our own, can assist in effective communicative efforts, as well as determining what makes a person more comfortable (Tracom, 2018). Communication competence is vital, not only our personal life, but our professional one as well (Waldherr & Muck, 2011).

Every team is different in the way they interact with another to form bond. In regards to how the formation of those bonds, is all the same. “Team composition is a key factor in influencing team performance; when considering the team composition, it is relevant to take into account the different roles which the members play and the way they interact with one another” (Senaratne & Gunawardane, 2015). Therefore, teams must develop a rapport and in order to do that, trust and respect must be established. In order to establish trust and respect, in teams, the concept of the team’s role has to be determined.

Communication is the key to success. A team without communication could never be successful. Communication is important because the group needs a clear goal and also they need to have shared objectives. For example, in football a defense needs to be on the same page; if two players on the defense are on different pages then the defense will not be successful. You need everyone to share the same objective in order to succeed, not just a few people but all as one. To ensure a team’s success, everyone on the team has to be accountable. Everyone has a job on the team to contribute to becoming successful as a whole. Also you need trust in order to become successful; you have to be able to trust in your team that they will give their all for the team.

What qualities make a good leader? You can ask a hundred different people, and you will get a hundred different answers. A good leader is someone who accomplishes the mission, has the respect of their subordinates, and makes the difficult decisions when needed. For me, I believe that a great leader needs to have a variety of qualities, but most importantly a sense of fairness, hard work/care, and common consideration for others. Different experiences throughout my life and time at West Point have lead me to believe that these three tenants are what are most needed for a great leader. In terms of a leader’s moral character, common consideration has the greatest influence on the success of a leader, because without common consideration, a